Saturday, 3 November 2012

Fortnum & Mason has been trumped by the discount supermarket chain, Aldi, in an annual Christmas pudding taste test.

Good Housekeeping magazine, reports the Daily Telegraph, judged Aldi's £7.99 orange-topped pudding to be the runner-up, describing it as ''delicious'' and ''a real bargain''; while Fortnum & Mason's £24.95 version was ''a real disappointment'', in 29th place out of 32 tested.

Waitrose won the category, with its cherry and almond-topped pudding with edible glitter.

Fortnum & Mason also scored bottom in the cranberry sauce test with its £10.95 jar, a category won by a £1.49 version from Tesco.

Good Housekeeping tested traditional festive food and drink from more than 20 retailers this year.

Overall, it found that shoppers ''should head to the supermarkets'' for the best Christmas cakes, with all five shortlisted being supermarket own brands.

However, the mince pie category was dominated by specialists, including Bettys, Bertinet, Rose Prince, Harrods and Gail's, with Morrisons being the only shortlisted supermarket.

Waitrose won the champagne category with its Brut Special Reserve Vintage 2004, with Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Premier Cru Vintage 2005 and Tesco's Premier Cru NV both judged runners-up.

Aldi was also judged a runner-up in the smoked salmon category, won by Scottish producer Uig Lodge.

The Co-operative won the title of best turkey supplier with its British Elmwood frozen turkey, with Morrisons named runner-up with its frozen M Bronze free range British turkey.

Good Housekeeping consumer director Caroline Bloor said:

''Shopping for Christmas dinner - one of the most eagerly anticipated meals of the year - can be very stressful.Deciding what to choose when faced with products you may only buy once a year can be hit and miss. That's why we've done all the hard work for you and tracked down the best options across 11 categories.Our annual Good Housekeeping Tried and Tested special on festive foods proves you don't need to bust the budget buying expensive names to treat everyone to something special.In most categories, the overall winner is from a high street supermarket. If you're going to splash out, save your money for the smoked salmon and mince pies.''

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